Rhinosinusitis is the most common health care complaint in the United States affecting approximately one out of eight persons at some time in their lives. Many people also suffer from nasal and sinus allergies and their complications such as bronchitis, colds, ear aches, sinusitis and sinus headaches. Various medicaments have been proposed to treat the nasal passages. For example, nasal steroid sprays are available for treating allergies, but these have undesirable side-effects such as loss of smell, loss of activity of cilia, increased incidence of viral infection, nose bleeds, etc. In addition, it may take several days or weeks before a benefit is obtained using steroids.
An alpha stimulant or vasoconstrictor such as ephedrine, NeoSynephrine® (phenylephrine hydrochloride) or Afrin (oxymetazoline hydrochloride) may be used as a decongestant, but these have various possible side-effects such as increased blood pressure, heart irregularities and rebound phenomenon and use beyond three days is not generally advised.
Sea water was traditionally used to rinse the nasal passage as part of a treatment for sinus problems but seawater alone lacks effectiveness. Significant discomfort is associated with seawater rinsing.
What is needed is a composition that can be used to clean and clear the nose and sinus passages with a minimum of discomfort, and without the side effects common with existing nasal treatments.